Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, which plants 3,000 to 4,000 trees in the city each year, has been collecting and gathering data to help guide its planting plans for more than a dozen years. Now, it is digging even deeper into that data and working even more closely with city government to make sure those plans benefit all areas of the city in a more equitable way.
Much of the data was based off the city’s 2019 Thrive Indianapolis climate resiliency plan, which mapped out tree cover, flood risk and summertime temperature highs. Disparities popped out, like the dozen-plus-degree temperature differences between some neighborhoods. Trees, albeit not the only solution, can help.
“It gets at really helping the Office of Sustainability make data-driven, informed decisions,” said Director Morgan Mickelson. “When we talk about making equitable decisions… it’s really important that we understand which areas of Indianapolis could benefit the most, and which areas of Indianapolis will be impacted in which ways by climate change.”